The Phantom Is Back!

I'd be looking forward to this new Phantom if it looked good to me... but it just doesn't.

I've always like the idea of the Ghost Who walks, but I have to say, I enjoyed it more when there's a quasi-mystical component to him as well. Never immortal, but maybe with artifacts of power handed down through the generations or some sort of technique that gives him a slight edge like The Shadow.

I hope if they do a new Phantom, they'll by pass the whole "Learning to Become The Phantom" storyline and just have him enter being the phantom, or having trained his whole life already and due to tragic circumstances it's now time to take up the mantle.

I don't care about learning to trust the character by watching him prove himself, I want to see him fully formed and showing me what he can do right off the bat.

^I don't think it's about learning to trust the character so much as it is about introducing the concept to a new audience. If the viewers don't know about the Phantom, having a new Phantom who needs to learn about the legacy is a good way to provide exposition. Both this new miniseries and Phantom 2040 have used the same idea, a teen or young-adult Kit Walker who wasn't raised by his biological father and thus knows nothing of the Phantom legacy until he's asked to take on the mantle.

Of course, there's also the approach the Zane movie took, treating the Phantom as an already-extant hero and having another viewpoint character learn about him.

That's pretty much how most X-Men adaptations have handled it: introducing the team from the perspective of a newcomer. First Kitty Pryde in the '80s "Pryde of the X-Men" pilot, then Jubilee in the premiere of the '90s series, then Wolverine and Rogue in the movie, then Nightcrawler in the X-Men Evolution premiere (although half the first season of that show was about new kids joining the team).

Come to think of it, I'm a little surprised that no one in the mass media has ever done a Batman adaptation from the point of view of Dick Grayson. He's orphaned, this mysterious dark knight swoops down to catch the killer and takes Dick under his wing, and through Dick's POV we discover the world of Batman and Bruce Wayne's tragic past. It seems like a natural application of a fairly common storytelling format. (Although Frank Miller did something similar with his All-Star Batman and Robin, and that's something we'd be better off not talking about.)

The 18th Phantom would be 3 generations in the past of the usual "default" Phantom, which would be maybe somewhere between 1880 or 1950 depending on when the "present" of a given adaptation is. So that wouldn't be the place for a female one.

Besides, the idea of the Phantom, "The Ghost Who Walks," is that by passing on the mantle from father to son, he's created a reputation of immortality that makes him intimidating to evildoers and criminals (who are, as has been observed, a superstitious, cowardly lot). If he suddenly "became" a woman, that would kind of spoil the illusion.

I can't see what Christopher says, but I'm sure he's contradicted me. There WAS a female Phantom, and as I said, instead of doing a traditional origins story like everyone else, it might be unique to do this period and female but no less canonical aspect of The Phantom. He is not a CGI superhero with magical powers anyway. In some ways, any Phantom belongs in the past, 50s at the latest. He has no superpowers to update him up to hip today. You can dang well do the Twin Phantoms as a family period piece. To anyone who knows the Phantom, the female angles are not so far fetched. How doall the wives feel about this legacy, hmm?

[FONT=arial, verdana, helvetica][SIZE=2][COLOR=#6300de] 16th Phantom (Active ~1840's-1860's): Father of twins Kip and Julie (the "female Phantom"). In 1994 dailies, called "the masked cowboy" and shown to marry Annie Morgan in Texas in the 1840's-1850's. Died after 1867.
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[FONT=arial, verdana, helvetica][SIZE=2][COLOR=#6300de] 17th Phantom (b. 1852): "Kip", educated in Rome, had twin sister Julie who temporarily served as the female Phantom while he was injured (Novel, 1952 Sundays). Also referred to in the story of the "Snake Goddess" (Frew #899A). [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Heck why not start with the first Phantom? No one said it has to be Kit Walker. Anyone who knows the comics would rather take the past than 2040. Imagine folks who don't know The Phantom and are introduced to a period family of non super hero jungle crime fighters, and its the sister that saves the day at the end before the happy ending that sets up sequels with the boys.

Its amazing The Phantom has never worked onscreen,because it is the only franchise that can allow for a different actor or actress to play The Phantom at any given time.

Dammit it to hell I can't find a jgp of the 17th female cover online. I can see it! I have to go to my parent's house and open up my non acetate comic vault now and scan it.

Frank Miller did something similar with his All-Star Batman and Robin, and that's something we'd be better off not talking about.)

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No takers for 'I'm The Goddamn Phantom!' then?

As regards the idea of a female Phantom, that thought did occur to me the other day. What if one generation of the Walker family had no sons, just a daughter? Would she don the costume? A female might look better in that skin-tight purple get-up, for one thing!

It would certainly be a good novelty for a one-shot story, if nothing else, but I wouldn't be surprised if some movie or tv maker decided to have a female lead for a version of the tale. Unlike making a Jane Bond or a female Dr Who, there could be a simple, sound, sensible explanation for a female of the family having to take up the mantle.

Frank Miller did something similar with his All-Star Batman and Robin, and that's something we'd be better off not talking about.)

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No takers for 'I'm The Goddamn Phantom!' then?

As regards the idea of a female Phantom, that thought did occur to me the other day. What if one generation of the Walker family had no sons, just a daughter? Would she don the costume? A female might look better in that skin-tight purple get-up, for one thing!

It would certainly be a good novelty for a one-shot story, if nothing else, but I wouldn't be surprised if some movie or tv maker decided to have a female lead for a version of the tale. Unlike making a Jane Bond or a female Dr Who, there could be a simple, sound, sensible explanation for a female of the family having to take up the mantle.

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At least one sister (Julie Walker, I believe) has filled in as the Phantom on occasion. There was recently a story about her in the first volume of The Phantom Chronicles and I believe she's appeared in the comics as well.

And speaking of comics, I just found out that my issue of THE PHANTOM: GENERATIONS (#12) finally goes on sale next Wednesday, June 23. It's a period piece set back during the French Revolution . . . .

Ah,The Phantom
I read the comic books quite a lot when I was younger
I havent read it for years now, though.
It was,and I think still is, somewhat popular in Finland.

I think that the Billy Zane film was OK, but it suffered from bad writing.
Im not sure if this new series will be good or not. The costume does not look very good
And why set it to the present?!? They could have made a cool, swashbukcling adventure series..and maybe set each season to different era of the Phantom
But maybe I will check it out, if and when, it comes to DVD. But I doubt I feel very nostalgic about it..

I am just miffed that they went with the 'American teeny blonde hip motorcycle dude rather than tap 500 years of Phantom canon. I don't understand why people don't think The Phantom is popular in the US. It has been a daily comic for what 70 years. It was extremely popular in the Golden Age and Pulp era. I think they should be true to the original if they want to attract fans. Don't try and change it for today and take the spirit of it away.

A period piece in the jungle verses pirates with a Dad superhero who's really just a regular guy trying to pass the legacy on to his son-with a daughter and wife having issues about it is a lot more unique and original than a guy in a black motorcycle getup with purple accents. The fact that SFC hasn't promted this at all already says it must have bombed on the Canadian airing and isn't being picked up for the backdoor pilot as they originally hoped.

I've said before, make a Defenders of the Earth movie and she which character is your breakout to franchise.

Yes, The Phantom could become a series
The four-hour miniseries is also a backdoor pilot, which means if it gets good ratings Syfy could decide to make a series out of it.

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"At this time we don't know what's going to happen," said Carnes. "We don't know what the fate of the miniseries is going to be. But obviously the more people that watch, the better chance this thing has of getting some legs and getting a following and becoming a series. So we obviously are encouraging as many people as possible to tune in."